Deck connector



April 24, 1956 w. w. PATTERSON nl 2,742,874

DECK CONNECTOR Filed Aug. 19, 1953 INVENTOR. Wil/iam u. Pa fferson BY M /7 fvwav H/S A TWEYS United States Patent O DECK CONNECTOR William W. Patterson III, Pittsburgh, Pa. Application August 19, 1953, Serial No. 375,264 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-235) The present invention relates to a deck connector and, more particularly, to a permanent installation for securing floating craft together.

A very common practice, especially in fresh-water navigation, is to fasten barges together side by side and end to end to form a tow which is then pushed by a boat. The barges are held tightly together by cables which are tightened by a steamboat ratchet, a large turnbuckle turned by a hand lever acting through a ratchet and pawl to rotate the threaded barrel of the turnbuckle.

Steamboat ratchets are frequently lost or stolen. To obviate this problem, my deck connector provides a permanent connection to the deck of a barge for a steamboat ratchet but which connection is adjustable to meet varying requirements. My deck connector includes a runway having a plurality of transverse openings on which a rider carrying a steamboat ratchet slides. The rider also has transverse openings which can be lined up with the transverse openings in the runway so that a pin passed through both sets of openings holds the rider in a selected position on the runway.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a ferred embodiment wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of two barges fastened together for a tow with one of the barges carrying my deck connector;

Figures 2 and 3 are side and plan views, respectively, of my deck connector;

Figures 4 and 5 are sections of Figure 2 on the lines IV-IV and V-V, respectively;

Figure 6 illustrates a modified nector; and

Figure 7 is a planview of the modified rider in Figure 6.

Figure l illustrates two barges B1 and Bz joined together, the barge B2 carrying my deck connector. A cable 11 secured at one end at 12 to barge B2 passes around posts or capstans 13 on both barges and is secured at its other end to a steamboat ratchet 14 carried by the deck connector 10.

The deck connector includes a runway 15 consisting of two angle irons 16 and 17 welded back-to-back to form a T-shaped beam. A cross plate 18 is welded across the tops of the joined vertical flanges of the angle irons and plates 19 vare welded across the ends of the angle irons. A series of spaced transverse openings 20 are cut along the length ofthe runway.

A U-shaped rider 21 straddles the runway and includes a block 22 having a longitudinal T-shaped slot 23 which fits around the vertcial flanges of the angle irons and the cross-plate 18. The rider also has transverse openings 24 and a hook eye 25. A link 26 connects the hook eye with a link 27 attached to the steamboat ratchet 14.

Figures 6 and 7 show a lighter form of rider which may be used and which comprises a U-shaped shackle present prerider for the deck con- 2,742,874, Patented Apr. 24, 1956 28 having aligned openings legs of the shackle are bent inwardly adjacent their midpoings to form shoulders 30 for a purpose hereinafter state The deck connector is permanently installed on a barge by welding or bolting the runway 15 to the deck of the barge. The rider 21 or 28 is then slipped over an end of the runway and one or both of the end plates 19 are then welded in place. Thereafter, it is impossible to remove the rider. The end plates 19 obviously preverit end removal, while if it is attempted to lift the rider, the top plate 18 engages the shoulders 23a formed by the T- shaped slot 23 in the rider shown in Figure 4, or the shoulders 30 of the shackle 28 shown in Figure 7.

When using my deck connector,

20 in the runway 15 to secure the rider in position on the runway. If desired, the pin may be provided with a washer and cotter pin. The steamboat ratchet is then operated in the customaryl manner to finally tighten the connecting cable 11. To disconnect the barges, the ratchet and pawl of the steamboat ratchet is released providing slack in the cable so that the pin 31 can be knocked out of the rider and runway.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that my deck connector provides a permanent but adjustable connection between a barge and a steamboat ratchet. The ratchet cannot be lost or stolen.

While the foregoing disclosure describes a presently preferred embodiment of my invention and a modification thereof, it is to be understood that it may be practiced in still other forms within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A deck connector for joining barges together by means of connecting cables to form a tow, including a beam of T-shaped cross-section fixed to the deck of a barge with the length of the beam located parallel to the direction of pull of said cables, said beam having a top cross plate running along its entire length, said beam furtherhaving a plurality of openings spaced along its length, a rider for connection to a cable joining the barges havingv an opening therein substantially conforming to part ofthe T-shaped beam and the cross plate, said ridervmounted to receive and ride along the beam and plate to prevent the rider from being lifted therefrom, said rider having openings for alignment with any of the beam openings, a pin of sufiicient thickness to withstand the pull of said connecting cable engageable with the and beam upon alignment to station the rider at a selected position along the beam to hold the rider fast against a force on said cable acting in a direction substantially parallel to the beam, end of the beam to prevent past the end of the beam to provide a permanent installation.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,690 Jones Aug. 19, 1913 1,520,144 Sansom Dec. 23, 1924 1,581,745 Kellett Apr. 20, 1926 1,816,897 Fedderman et al. Aug. 4, 1931 2,155,043 Gorskey Apr. 18, 1939 2,605,064

Davis July 29, 1952 29 in the ends thereof. They openings of the rider and abutment means at each l the rider from being moved 

